Author / YannigRoth

by YannigRoth

The role of randomness in crowdsourcing

app-contest-dice illustration

I’ve just read a very interesting paper about crowdsourcing, authored by four researchers from Vienna (Austria). It’s called “Does god play dice?” Randomness vs. deterministic explanations of idea originality in crowdsourcing (PDF), will be presented in June at the 35th DRUID Celebration Conference in Barcelona (Spain), and argues that the originality of ideas in crowdsourcing contests is largely random (not determined by skills, expertise, creativity or motivations of participants or other deterministic factors). To come up with these results, they simulated an app contest sponsored by Apple and Orange.

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by YannigRoth

Advertising Contests in the 1950s and 1960s (The Contest Era)

The book cover (left) and the movie poster (right)

The book cover from 2001 (left) and the movie poster from 2005 (right)

“It’s easy to forget how long companies have been inviting ideas from ‘the crowd,’” says Julia Kirby in her HBR article Creative That Cracks the Code the Code. “If you’re in doubt, read The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, a memoir of 1950s America in which the author’s mother writes advertising jingles for contest after contest.” This excerpt caught my interest, and I rushed to Amazon to buy the book (2001) and the movie (2005). I’ve just finished both and learned an awful lot advertising contests in the 1950s and 1960s, decades of prosperity in which companies fueled consumption and promoted the American Way of Life with creative contests. Continue reading →

by YannigRoth

Deezbox et Rankseller, deux start-ups qui débutent en France

deezbox-rankseller

Ceci n’est pas un billet sponsorisé mais un coup de pouce à deux entreprises qui viennent de débuter en France. La première est Deezbox, tout juste créée par des amis de l’ESSCA, qui offre la possibilité de commander en ligne des créations graphiques de manière abordable et rapide. La seconde est Rankseller.fr, une plateforme mettant en relation des blogueurs et des annonceurs pour l’échange de billets sponsorisé, qui vient de se lancer en France sous la direction de Maël Roth. J’espère qu’en les présentant ici, je peux modestement contribuer à leur développement. Présentation.

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by YannigRoth

Asking students to reinvent their business school #DreamingAudencia

dreaming audencia banner

Audencia School of Management, located in Nantes, in Brittany, is one of France’s leading business schools. Today, the school is launching a very original event, inviting its students to co-create the business school of tomorrow. Called Dreaming Audencia (“Design Thinking and Collective Intelligence” it says on the facebook page), the 2-day event is meant to put the school’s students at the driving seat to reinvent their business school. I thought it was an interesting initiative, that’s why I share it in this blog post (I’ll also try to write a follow-up post once it will be over). Continue reading →

by YannigRoth

My « We Are Smarter Than Me » crowdsourcing book review

we are smarter than me crowdsourcing book cover

We Are Smarter Than Me, How To Unleash the Unleash the Power of Crowds is one of the “older” books when it comes to crowdsourcing, as it has been published in 2008. The authors, Barry Libert (investor and strategic advisor) and Jon Spector (Vice Dean and Director of Wharton Executive Education), explain in their introduction that since “there is no practical guide to translate [the concepts of crowdsourcing, wikinomics and open source technology] into usable tools and techniques,” this book would “fill the gap, describing in detail how businesses of all kinds can make the wisdom of the crowd work for them.” But I must admit that I closed the book disappointed, here’s why. Continue reading →

by YannigRoth

Comment Heineken utilise le crowdsourcing pour l’innovation et le marketing

How beer brands are driving growth

J’ai récemment lu une interview de Ellen Bark, responsable innovation chez Heineken, parlant de la stratégie d’innovation ouverte au sein de l’entreprise. Cette interview est publiée sur PSFK, en anglais, et je trouvais intéressant de la traduire en français pour la rendre accessible à davantage de personnes. Ce qu’elle dit est intéressant dans le sens où Heineken utilise le crowdsourcing via divers plateformes, comme je soulignais déjà en septembre 2011. Depuis, d’autres plateformes ont été lancées, et l’interview révèle bien la maturité de la marque lorsqu’il s’agit d’utiliser les idées de la foule pour le marketing et l’innovation. Voici la traduction de l’entretien (les illustrations ont été ajoutées a posteriori). Continue reading →

by YannigRoth

Video contests have shifted away from consumers, says Hugh Mitton

Hugh Mitton during the shoot of his Coca-Cola Valentine's Day ad for a Mofilm contest

Hugh Mitton during the shoot of his Love Is In The Air ad for a Mofilm contest

After speaking to Jared Cicon (aka Video Contest King) and Brett Slater (aka Slater’s Garage), two succesful video contest participants, here’s another interview of a talented filmmaker: Hugh Mitton. Actually we’re talking about a very talented filmmaker, who has a proven track record since he won various contests in the last years, including Coca-Cola’s Energizing Refreshment contest on eYeka and the same brand’s When Will Happiness Strike Next? competition on Mofilm.

The spot that got him the first prize on the Mofilm competition, called Love Is In The Air (see below) even got aired on Valentine’s Day during American Idol telecast, before reaching other countries around the world. Hugh had the kindness to answer some of my questions about himself and the video contest landscape. Here’s what he said. Continue reading →